Whitsunday Reef Recovery and Public Art Project Public Information Package
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Whitsunday Reef Recovery and Public Art Project Public Information Package Public Comment Reef Ecologic now seeks any public comment under Regulation 88PD of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Regulations 1983 (Cth). Public submissions will be considered by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) in making a decision on this permit application. Submissions Applicant All comments and submissions to: All questions and further information to: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Reef Ecologic Environmental Assessment and Protection Unit, 14 Cleveland Terrace PO Box 1379, Townsville QLD 4810 Townsville QLD 4810 Telephone: 0418726584 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Website: www.gbrmpa.gov.au/about-us/consultation Website: www.reefecologic.org/project/wrap/ February 2019 1 Table of Contents Message from the Tourism Industry ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������3 Message from Whitsunday Traditional owners ����������������������������������������������������������������������������4 Background ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 6 About the Whitsunday Reef Recovery and Public Art Project (the Why) ��������������������������������������7 What is the relationship between underwater sculptures and reef recovery? �����������������������������8 What are underwater sculptures? �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9 What underwater sculptures are proposed for the Whitsundays? ���������������������������������������������11 Where are Underwater Sculptures to be installed? �������������������������������������������������������������������16 What underwater sculptures have been installed in the Whitsundays? �������������������������������������19 How big are the sculptures? �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������21 What are the environmental risks and benefits? ������������������������������������������������������������������������22 What are the social risks and benefits? ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������22 What are the economic risks and benefits? ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������22 How will the environmental, social and economic risks be managed and monitored? ��������������23 How are underwater sculptures be installed and decommissioned?������������������������������������������25 What are the timeframes? ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������25 Who has been engaged and consulted?��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������26 Will the sculptures impact access by other marine park users? �������������������������������������������������27 Where do I go for more information? �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������27 Further frequently asked questions ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������28 References �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������29 Appendix 1 - Project Risk Assessment ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������30 2 Message from the Tourism Industry 3 Message from Whitsunday Traditional owners We are representatives of the Gia, Ngaro and Juru traditional owners and it is our pleasure to submit a letter of support for the Whitsunday Reef Recovery and Public Art project� The Gia, Ngaro and Juru people are the Traditional Owners of the land and sea on which the Whitsunday Reef Recovery and Public Art project will be located� We are the seafarers ‘canoe people’ who have inhabited the area since 9000BP. Traditionally, since the beginning, the Ngaro were dependent on the ocean. We relied on the reefs, mangroves and sea for our food, shelter and culture. Our ancestors hunted large marine animals from large, three sheet bark, diamond shaped canoes with oblique ends called ‘Winta’� We moved around freely between at least 8 of the major islands Hook, Whitsunday, Lindeman, South Molle, Hamilton, Hayman, Daydream and others� We are proud of our rock art cultural sites on Hook Island which are some of the oldest archaeological sites in Eastern Australia� We would also like to acknowledge the Yuwibara, Koinmerburra, Barada Barna and Wiri peoples who all have traditionally inhabited the Central Queensland region. Traditional owners have been informed and consulted about the scope of the project during 2018 including meetings of the Whitsundays Local Marine Advisory Committee, Bowen Local Marine Advisory Committee and Proserpine Indigenous Reference Group. We support the educational benefits of the underwater sculptures and particularly turtles, Manta rays, fish and coral that will increase awareness and appreciation of these species and reef issues and solutions. We are delighted that three of the four artists are working closely with traditional owners to incorporate indigenous knowledge and artwork into their underwater sculpture designs� Well known Torres Strait indigenous artist Brian Robinson has collaborated with on Niki Bidju Pryor on both Bywa and Migration of the Mantas. Niki Bidju Pryor has also worked collaboratively with Arts Collective on Anthozoa and the proposed ’Ngaro Dreaming of Anthozoa- Digital Interpretation’. Adriaan Vanderlugt has worked collaboratively with Arthur Gaby to illustrate the Manta Ray� Our aspirations for the underwater sculptures will lead to increased cultural interpretation, environmental education and improved health of the Whitsunday coral reefs and the broader Great Barrier Reef. In the future we anticipate that these underwater sculptures and associated reef restoration projects will lead to increased involvement of traditional owner scientists, artists, tourism operators and guides, reef rangers in the governance of the Great Barrier Reef. Alena West, Agnes Boyd, Toni Pryor, Roscoe Pryor, Boori Pryor Lynette Pryor, Cilla Pryor, Adrena Pryor, Elsie Kyle, Marie Coleman, Carol Prior Whitsunday Traditional Owners 4 5 Background In March 2017 Cyclone Debbie significantly damaged tourism and residential infrastructure, and some of the natural values of the Whitsundays (Chen 2017, Reynolds, 2017, Tourism and Events Queensland, 2017)� The clean- up and recovery have restored some infrastructure and tourism activity but many natural values such as large coral reef bommies may take decades to recover. Tourism operators and government are trying to make a positive difference for coral reefs damaged by Cyclone Debbie. This project represents an opportunity to link existing tourism products and attractions with new experiences through the development of the Whitsundays reef and island learning trail, involving marine public art installations combined with reef rehabilitation projects. Underwater public art, sculptures and reef restoration projects have been successfully installed in Australia and throughout the world and have led to multiple environmental, social and economic benefits. This is one of several key projects under the $7 million Tourism Recovery Fund, part of the jointly funded State and Federal Government $10 million tourism recovery package to support the rebuilding and recovery of the tourism industry in the Whitsundays� The Whitsunday reef recovery and public art project commenced in May 2018 and is due for completion by December 2019. The project is delivered on behalf of the Department of Innovation, Tourism Industry Development and the Commonwealth Games and led by Reef Ecologic Pty Ltd in partnership with Tourism Whitsundays, Whitsunday Regional Council with advice from Whitsunday and Bowen Local Marine Advisory Committees and stakeholders. We are working closely with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS). The Whitsunday reef recovery and public art project approach is based on extensive and ongoing community and stakeholder consultation and collaboration. We have co-designed and adapted the project with the tourism industry, council and government� The scoping stage of the project included underwater visual reef health surveys to determine which reefs have been damaged and which area are healthy. We advertised a global expression of interest for public underwater art and sculpture ideas and conducted a pilot research study supported by CSIRO to trial different art materials at different locations on Langford Reef and received over 400 survey responses. We worked with James Cook University and local citizen scientists installing coral nurseries containing 425 corals to support reef restoration at two degraded bays. All research was permitted by the GBRMPA and installations were supervised by QPWS� This Public Information Package provides relevant information for the permit assessment phase associated with the proposed installation of six sculptures of marine species in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Figure 1). These sculptures were selected by an independent local committee and are being designed and built by Whitsunday and Australian artists in consultation with Traditional Owners. We propose that these sculptures will be installed at Horseshoe Bay,